Qari, according to some of his close friends, was now thinking of not pursuing the case anymore and expressed his desire to some of his friends, only to find himself in a difficult situation when activists of a religious organisation ‘convinced’ him not to change his mind.

“We will chase her through hell … don’t worry about the money, hiring best lawyers,” Salam told The Express Tribune, quoting the son of Khatm-e-Nabuwat’s London chapter’s leader.

The leader’s son flew in to Nankana from London after hearing that Salam might not go to Lahore High Court (LHC) when the review petition against Aasia’s conviction is taken up.

Salam himself, however, denied he ever thought of backtracking from his stance.

“How can I change my mind,” he said. “I believe it will bring me a better place in heaven. It gives me pleasure, it is my pride,” Salam told The Express Tribune.

Salam said Khatm-e-Nabuwat had hired Mustafa Chaudhry as counsel to fight his case in the higher court, and were ready to go to an extent to seek death for Aasia.

Despite death threats from religious right, Aasia’s lawyers are now planning to seek bail for her from LHC.

“Yes, we are ready to file a bail application and will be moving ahead with it in a couple of weeks,” said Rai Ajmal, one of the two lawyers who were Aasia’s counsel in Nankana court which sent her to gallows in 2010.

A review petition against the verdict filed by Rai, and a fellow lawyer Sardar Khan Chaudhry, is pending before the LHC and there are little chances that it can be taken up for at least another three years.

Rai said the LHC is still hearing review petitions filed in 2006-07, and judges are reluctant to use their discretionary powers to take up Aasia’s case on a priority basis due to its controversial nature.

Aasia’s review petition was filed in 2010 and, according to sources in the LHC, it will purportedly not be taken up before 2015, while Aasia languishes in jail.

Both Rai and Chaudhry appeared convinced that the top provincial court would rule in favour of a bail plea they were going to file if the decision was based on the evidence, and not religious sentiments on the streets.

Former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated last year by one of his security guards for raising his voice in favour of Aasia’s release and calling for a review of the country’s blasphemy laws.

The intensity of opposition by religious right forced the government to withdraw plans of reviewing the laws enacted by former dictator General Ziaul Haq.

The same religious fervour is expected to cast shadows on future verdicts in the case as well.

While he did not say anything explicitly, Rai said he did fear for his, and colleague’s life for pursuing a ‘very sensitive’ case that has evoked popular religious sentiments.

Aasia would have been acquitted by the Nankana court had the case been heard dispassionately, he said.

Threatening the lawyers

A neutral trial of the case seems to be a forgone conclusion though, in the face of opposition by religious outfits like Khatm-e-Nabuwat and Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool.

Activists of both organisations, individuals closely associated with the case said, had been threatening not only the lawyers with dire consequences but also Salam for his purported backtracking on the case.

Convener of Hurmat-e-Rasool Maulana Ameer Hamza, also a top leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, denied that his organisation’s activists were threatening anybody to stop court proceedings in the case.

He refused to commit, however, that his outfit would accept if the LHC either acquit or grant bail to Aasia.

“What we say is that court proceedings must be respected … and after LHC there is the Supreme Court as well. We won’t let it go easily,” he said.

Salman Taseer should not be regarded as the lone supporter of Madame Aasia Bibi. I for one want to be counted as well. And so should every God fearing person.
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I am not against the blasphemy laws as such; I am against the way these laws are applied in Pakistan. Presently, this law is being used to suppress minorities, and make them second class citizens of the Republic.
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By the way, Salman Taseer was by school friend. In 1961 Salmeen Taseer, I and 4 other friends hiked-and-jeeped the length of Kaghan Valley, Balakot to Babusar Pass, with side trips to Shogran and Saif-ul-Mulook.

In Pakistan a person is sentenced to death on basis of a :…. case (which) was not based on facts but on hyped religious emotions and personal bias of some village women.” The person who accused her is now regretting having filed charges against her. The accused is in the jail since the last 1 year and her review petition will come up before the courst after 4 years. What sort of judicial system has Pakistan established. Is Pakistan a civilised society or a pack of Barbarians? I see no future for Pakistan as a country and as a nation.

It is a shame that British Government plays into the hand of such clerics by giving them permission to stay in Britain. Seriously, British government should check out the activities of such organization. I bet these people collect funds from the British Asians in the name of Islam and use it to terrorise Christians and Hindu’s in Pakistan.

@naeem hussain:
That is because we muslims never stand up for thr right thing, all we saw in this case was a huge number of radical mullahs taking the whole country in their hand in support of Mumtaz Qadri.. How many rallies did we see in support of Asia Bibi or rallies AGAINST Mumtaz Qadri? And according to Islam and almost every other kind of law, if you do not speak up against something that is wrong and let it happen, you are a part of that vicious act, so yeah their analysis of Muslims is not unfair
An american strike kills our soldiers, there are demostrations all around Pakistan, and just few weeks later Taliban kill our soldiers and nobody seems to care?
It would better if we stop crying about how we are portrayed around the world and instead we work towards improving our image through our acts?

@ all minorities should plz leave Pakistan, this country has nothing to give us, we will be and remain second class citizen. Wether Pakistan remains islamic or turned into secular country, as long as the mindset of the majority Pakistan dont change, there will be no tolerance or humanity in Pakistani society. If this attitude remains where most Pakistani muslims thinks that islam is superior and best way of life, we will never be respected or accepted by them. How difficult is to understand that humanity is above all religions!

Vienna,January 21,2012
Sentiments are the best evidence in all Pakistani courts
seeking heavenly blessings.In the sub continental India
mob courts are also taken in by sentimental evidences
against Maqbool Fida Hussain,Taslima Nasreen or Salman
Rushdie.These are the days of sentimentalists.
Taravadu Taranga Trust for Media Monitoring TTTMM India
–Kulamarva Balakrishna

Whenever this type of news is read, my blood boils and think why I should not take a gun and kill all these religious crooks, who take pride in killing a poor mother on false accusations under a nasty blasphemy law. The Chief Justice of SC will also be a party if he do not interfere in this religious murder games of some criminal mindsets.

The blasphemy laws make me ashamed to be a Pakistani. I am a Muslim but the laws go against the spirit of Islam. Waiting 4 years for a review petition because the judges are afraid of religious extremists ! and the CJ of the SC is too busy hearing spurious cases against a democratically elected govt.!! Perhaps the judiciary should get its own house in order.

Why when ever a non Muslim is involved
in blasphemy is innocent and is a
victim of bias Muslims.

Because they invariably are.

Why every
Muslim accused for terrorism in the
West is guilty even before the trial?

I don’t know if its true as in west only court can decide guilt and punish accordingly, media only speculates. However, how many Muslims get killed in west before being given a chance for a trial, unlike blasphemy law victims in Pakistani? There is simply no comparison between the two situations.

@waqas:
I feel ashamed and sorry for the minorities of Pakistan, and the most I feel ashamed for is that we have done almost nothing to protect your people’s rights at all, you have every right to feel the way you do for Pakistan and its so called Muslims, who claim to follow Islam at its best but do not follow its basic tenets of fairness and equality, this is not the Pakistan that was supposed to be when Quad e Azam fought for it. If he had any indication of what Pakistan will become in the future, he would have preferred living as a minority even if he was paid to fight for Pakistan, because the freedon he fought for doesn’t exist here!

@Saad: {It would better if we stop crying about how we are portrayed around the world and instead we work towards improving our image through our acts}

HA HA you must be joking or simply day dreaming. Our poor image has nothing to do with our acts of ommission and commission. Its all due the conspiracy of Jews / Indians / American imperialism and the rest except ourselves. Go get a life. We are a pure nation and cant do anything wrong. Dont try to swim against the tide and risk drowning. HA HA

@abdullah:
I think you were not taught the true meaning of Pakistani flag in 1st and 2nd grades, so let me teach you a very short lesson, the green part in our national flag represents the Muslim population and the white stripe represents the non Muslim population, that’s all you need to know about our flag. Pakistan was meant to be a country for everyone, but that’s not the case anymore
And as far as your taunt against liberals is concerned, I consider myself conservative since I follow Islam because I consider its my duty assigned by Allah to protect the rights of minoities in my country, it would be better if you leave Pakistan since you reject Quad e Azam’s words on Pakistans minorities as well right? Let me quote him to you in my next postRecommend

The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are against the teachings of Islam. The punishment for blasphemy is in the hereafter and not through the sections of Pakistan penal codes.

By believing in the concept of trinity Aasia bibi and millions of others are not on the true path and have committed the ultimate blasphemy.
Our Holy Prophet (saw) however cordially met Christian representatives in his mosque and after the first revelation sought the opinion of Naufal bin Warqa, a Chirstian.

facts remains muslims are enjoying more rights and freedom in a secular countries than all minorities in islamic countries together! Period!

if we treat muslims in west the way u muslims are treating us, imagine what would happens;
mosque will be destroyed, Quran will be burnt, no islam propaganda allowed, women are not allowed to wear islamic dress( same way like christians women are not allowed to wear skirt in Pakistan), no rights to become PM or President, hatred will be teached at school against muslims (the same happens in Pakistani schools against non-muslims) , every muslim wil be kidnappend and forced to be non-muslim, every muslim should read all the verses from the Bible (like we non-muslims have to read the Quran forcibely) no islamic tv channel allowed, and if we implemented our way of blasphemy laws all the muslims would have been in jail for insultingdisrepecting non-muslims, but hey thanks to our religion wich teach us humanity, love and tolerance, these things are not happening!

Imagine how would the response from the islamic countries be, when these things turned out to be true? Jihad, Terrorism, Bomb Blast? LOL!

@Waqas:
The Spirit of Islam is the essence of liberality of thought, and in thought. Whatever your religion, you are MY BROTHER. I lived in Manchester and one of my best friends was Gurbachan Singh Bakhar, I lived in Switzerland and my BEST friend was Brinder Singh Gill, right now one of my best friends is Venkat Gudivada.
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I assure you extremists are everywhere, even in GB, Switzerland and in the USA. You should see some of the remarks (in print, in the New York Times) of people praising the marines for urinating over dead bodies, in Afghanistan.
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Despite all this manifestation of hatred, it will be you, I and other like-minded people working together that WE SHALL OVERCOME; we will PREVAIL over these forces of EVIL who act in the name of their religion, while in reality they abuse their own faith.
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I salute you for trying to educate your fellow citizens.

All those who support blasphemy laws are doing blasphemy themselves because they are belittling the glory of God by saying a human with a few words can infuriate the almighty God. Do you think if someone says a few bad words against God, it will reduce God’s power? Instead of acknowledging the ignorance of the person and leaving judgement to God, Pakistan created blasphemy laws and gave the rest of the world another reason to degrade Pakistan.

@naeem hussain:
In the West, a fair trial can be guaranteed, with evidence not based on hearsay and personal vendettas, but concrete evidence. In Pakistan, the law is perverse and a person can be sentenced to death without real evidence.
If the blasphemey law is so good, why can’t it be applied equally to all citizens and religious faiths? If a Christian or other minority accuses a Muslim of blasphemy, what happens? Exactly.

Blasphemy laws must be abolished now!
Now the UN has ruled that the right to blaspheme is part of freedom of expression as enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
UN Human Rights Committee takes article 19 relating to freedom of expression and says there will be no blasphemy ban. It is a setback for the Muslim organization OIC that demanded that blasphemy is prohibited.